Canucks aim to clinch West's top seed in Nashville

Mar 29, 2011 - 3:34 PM

(Sports Network) - The Vancouver Canucks have been breaking franchise record
after franchise record over the past week. They can surpass another club mark
this evening and move closer to another first as they visit the streaking
Nashville Predators and Bridgestone Arena.

The Canucks have already set new team highs for points (109) and road wins
(25) in a season, and reached the 50-win total for the first time in club
history with a 4-1 triumph over the Blue Jackets on Sunday. The victory was
their eighth in a row on the road, matching a franchise record for set from
Dec. 20, 2003-Jan. 13, 2004.

Chris Higgins had two goals and an assist, while Cory Schneider made 39 saves
in giving regular No. 1 Roberto Luongo a breather.

"We got another great goaltender performance," said Vancouver head coach Alain
Vigneault after his team won their third straight game and 10th in their past
11. "Teams are obviously getting themselves prepared for us. I thought
Columbus, tonight, played real strong. At the end of the night, our goaltender
was better than their goaltender and we won the game."

Daniel Sedin had an assist to give him eight goals and 17 points over his past
11 games. He is tops in the NHL with a career-best 96 points and has three
goals and nine points in his last seven versus the Predators.

The Canucks come into the meeting 11 points ahead of Detroit for the top
seed in the West and can clinch the conference's No. 1 spot by earning at
least a point in this matchup.

Vancouver is also nine points ahead of Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia
in the race for the Presidents' Trophy, an award the franchise has never
before captured. The Canucks have six games left to the Flyers seven.

The Canucks will have to take on the red-hot Predators without defenseman Dan
Hamhuis, who suffered his second concussion of the season during a collision
on Sunday versus Columbus. Hamhuis, who spent his first six NHL seasons with
Nashville prior to joining Vancouver, won't play tonight as he continues to be
monitored.

"I talked to him briefly and he said he was feeling better, so we'll see as we
move forward here," Vigneault said on Monday. "We're just going to follow the
NHL protocol that we've always followed and see what happens."

Vancouver has lost 328 total man-games to injury this season, a healthy chunk
of that from its blueliners.

Nashville has matched its longest winning streak of the season, a six-game run
first done from Dec. 31-Jan. 11, with Saturday's 4-2 victory over Dallas.
David Legwand and Mike Fisher both scored twice and Pekka Rinne ended with 28
saves.

Fisher scored just his second and third goal in 21 games with Nashville since
coming over in a trade with Ottawa.

"Mike does so many other good things," Nashville head coach Barry Trotz said.
"He was snake-bit and frustrated that he wasn't scoring. He had been a little
bit dry here. It is probably a big weight off of his back."

The Predators, who last won seven straight from Nov. 12-25, 2009, sit in a tie
for fifth overall in the Western Conference with the Kings, one point up on
the Ducks and one back of the fourth-place Coyotes.

Nashville is also six points back of Detroit for first place in the Central
Division with six games left for both clubs. The Predators will host the Red
Wings on April 2.

The Predators, who have won five straight and eight of their last nine at
home, have won their last two versus the Canucks, including a 3-0 road victory
on March 3 that featured a 29-save shutout by Rinne. Their 3-1 home win over
Vancouver on Feb. 17 was just their second in the past seven in this series
played at Nashville.

Rinne is 4-3-0 with a 1.88 goals-against average versus the Canucks, while
Luongo is 9-10-0 with three ties and a 2.24 GAA when facing the Preds.